Monday, 17 September 2012

Tales of Arabian Nights - Part II

There was a little concern from a
number of readers in the Borough at the late issue of yesterday's post,
highlighted by the number of "are you alright" e-Mails! Fear not kind
readers, your correspondent is alive and well and preparing for his next
adventure.

Reason for the tardy arrival of the daily doings was a kind invitation from my friend Lesley Brown to join her for lunch at

VAUGHAN'S RESTAURANT on Weymouth Quay. A novel birthday present from a close friend was a

voucher
valued at 'Lunch for Two' at an establishment neither of us had visited
since it was The Sea Cow many years ago. For the benefit of those who
look for good places to eat, we can both thoroughly recommend this place
for excellent food, good wine and polite and efficient service. Things
were a little fraught when we arrived but when the dust settled there
was more than adequate apology for the 'moment of madness' and we went
on to enjoy Squash and Chili Soup, Moules, Roast Beef and a magic fillet of Hake. Add to that a decent Rosé and it was bon appetit.

Was
it a mistake to decant to The Swan straight after the meal - Not
Likely! On arrival, metaphorically speaking, we 'fell among thieves' and
as can be seen a warm welcome to old friends not seen for an age.

Once
known as the Mutual Appreciation Society it was great to see SHANE
WARNE (no relation) and IAN JENKINS as harmonica player and vocalist for
local band The Skint Imperials NICK GOMER looks on a little bewildered.

Overhearing
our conversation concerning music, we were joined by this lovely couple
from Stoke City, MEL and GORDON CARTLIDGE which was starter for a
couple of hours running through every band we could think of. We were
both extremely pleased to meet you both and hope you return soon!

So back to Arabian Knights and an early Spring visit in 2009 to Sharm al-Sheikh

where on arrival I was met by this fantastic group of Estonian tourist

with whom I enjoyed many a happy hour around the Souks, Bazaars and Coffee Shops of the city.

The pleasantries of a cool Hookah, sweet honey tea and good company was only surpassed by a visit to

the
local SEWERAGE WORKS. There, I quickly made the acquaintance of Mohamed
and Mohamed who were in charge of the area and granted me free access
to all points. With plenty of flowing, clean water, areas of arid desert
and some reed-bed it was no surprise to find

(Red-spotted) BLUETHROAT,

(White-spotted) BLUETHROAT and

many Juvenile BLUETHROAT. Other species to be found included

KENTISH PLOVER,

LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD,

and
RED-THROATED PIPIT just before being attacked by a huge adult Camel.
Unaware that I was perched on its favoured 'scratching mound' to get
better views across the works, it cut me off from the front, while
behind me was a series of cesspools and reeds. Flailing my bag and
hitting it a number of times only served to heighten its attack so I was
extremely lucky to look behind me and see in the distance

these
3 Sewerage Workers. In broken English they seemed to be shouting "run
fast" (which I have heard of but never done) but there was only one
direction available to me. The Camel did give chase but as I was now in
Usain mode luckily it soon gave up. As for me, I was covered in CESS
which my 3 new found friends soon cleaned off with a high power hose.
Thankful for the hot sunshine and their help, it was off to some of the
more distant 'pits' where there were 'hundreds' of

WHITE STORKs

many of which were approachable,

with a few flying off

while
others were already airborne. Sharm is a fantastic 'birding' location,
easy to get to, good hotels in all price ranges (£90 for 6 nights bed,
breakfast plus evening meal), no transport problems and excursions that
will take you to the heart of the Sinai and Red Sea Coast - what are we
waiting for?

Finally,
another superb photograph from the camera of Paul Harris of a PRIVET
HAWK-MOTH LARVA, thanks Bomber and please keep 'em coming!

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About Me

Born Beeston, Notts 1946, my family moved to Dorset 1959. Joined the Royal Navy age 15 years and 50 days serving 10 years. In frigates firstly then over 5 years in Submarines as a Seaman/Diver, reaching the dizzy heights of Leading Seaman before leaving to join the Merchant Service, working in Ocean Salvage and Harbour Tugs, passenger / cargo ships, trials vessels, etc. Qualified as Mate (Chief Officer) in 1976 and as Master (Captain) in 1978. For my final 20 years of 47 I worked in the Offshore Oil Industry initially on the drilling rig Stena Hunter, then the accommodation barge Borgland Dolphin and finally the Floating Production Platform Buchan Alpha. On the rigs I forged a number of long lasting friendships several of whom shared some of my extensive travels. Setting foot on Caymen, Bermuda, Bahamas and The Azores in March 2013 brought my countries total to 147. The best, undoubtedly, was Antarctica, followed by Australia, Mongolia, Belize, Zimbabwe, China and Madagascar, in no particular order. As for my greatest achievement in life, my 2 beautiful daughters bear witness to that. Love to all our readers, your in my thoughts. Bagsy